Dwarf Crusher

This variant stone golem was designed specifically to destroy dwarves, though any band of warriors will find it a brutal opponent. It resembles a crudely carved statue of an ugly, squat dwarf. Its undersized head carries two faces, front and back, each with a stringy beard, gaping mouth, beady eyes, jug ears, bulbous nose and sloping forehead. The thick torso is a stack of flat discs that rotate independently, the sausage-like arms hang below the knees, and the legs are short and heavy. Every joint looks swollen and arthritic, but in fact each can swivel in any direction, so the waddling construct is far nimbler than it looks. Its stony skin is really dense clay laid over a core of stone.

Mindless and relentless, the crusher pounds foes with its huge fists. With two faces and rotating joints it can strike in every direction and has no rear, and its all-around sight grants +2 to its surprise rolls. Once per turn it can also release a wave of volcanic heat that works like heat metal cast at 12th level, in the same round as a physical attack. It always prefers targets fighting it in melee, and it gains +1 to hit dwarves of every kind.

Only weapons of +2 or better can harm it. Edged weapons (type P or S) also risk getting stuck: roll 1d4 with each attack, and on a 1 the blade lodges in the golem even if the attack missed, doing no damage. The trapped body part instantly twists and rips the weapon out of the wielder's grip. Natural weapons and things like a cestus cannot be let go, so instead the attacker takes 3d8 damage and cannot use that limb for 1d6 rounds. Reclaiming a stuck weapon requires a hit against AC 0 to grab it and then a successful Bend Bars roll; a Bend Bars roll of 91 or more snaps the weapon unless it is an artifact. Once the crusher is destroyed, lodged weapons can be worked free safely in one turn.

Most spells do nothing to it. Transmute rock to mud slows it for 2d6 rounds, while transmute mud to rock restores all its lost hit points. Stone to flesh leaves its substance unchanged but for the following round ordinary weapons can hurt it; spells still affect it then only if they deal direct damage. While it is vulnerable, weapons cannot stick in it and any already lodged fall out.

The crusher is the invention of the evil wizard Ostrevan Kell, whose loathing of dwarves verges on madness. He has built only a few so far, and they guard his underground lair.

Like all golems, it never eats, sleeps, breathes or breeds, and it lasts until destroyed. Building one would require Kell's notes, 85,000 gp of materials and three months of labor. The builder must be a wizard of 16th level or higher and must cast geas, wall of fire, polymorph any object and wish.